Rossetti’s collection provides a narrative about the experiences and reflections encompassing death. I was thinking about Corinne’s “Last Song” through Rossetti’s entire Goblin Market. To trace some of the key points, we begin with “Dream Land” where the solemn, calm tone of the narrator is almost eerie, especially in the images portrayed, from the weeping “sunless rivers” to the nightingale “that sadly sings.” The “shadow” of this dream seems to haunt the narrator throughout the rest of the poems. I really connected with the last two stanzas where this “Rest, rest” is repeated as though someone is calming her who “cannot feel” and is in a place where “no pain shall wake”(16-17). I get the sense this release from life is warranted and in death there is no more suffering. I’ve had close experiences with a few cancer patients who were in excruciating physical pain during their last few weeks/days/hours. A death by cancer isn’t poetic or calm by any means, but this reminds me of why Hospice intervenes. Cancer patients are on a large amount of pain medication as they reach the end of their life, and many pass away in a Hospice facility or at home with Hospice nurses keeping their pain as manageable as possible. In this way, “a perfect rest” is the ideal way to leave this earth, away from pain and suffering.
I have a sense the pain for the Rossetti character is more of an internalized pain, which can relate to Corinne directly. In her “Last Song” she describes “an inner music” which “prepares us for the arrival of the angel of death.” Corinne speaks of darkness and “eternal shadows” that contrast with “light of day” or transcendence she sees in Italy, although it is quite ironic to mention when she is on stage she is “In a very dark corner” so that she wouldn’t be seen by Oswald (Stael 400-401).
There is a binary of light and dark at work in Rossetti’s poem collection and Corinne’s “Last Song.” The “darkness” of the sky is described as beautiful, for “Thousands of stars adorn it” (Stael 400) while Rossetti’s “single star” might indicate the difference of audience. The death of the Rossetti character seems personal and quiet versus the “huge crowd” that formed to hear Corinne’s final song. The “angel of death” Corinne speaks of isn’t “frightening” but “white, though he goes surrounded by darkness” (402).
Other areas. The swan-song returns--maybe I could look at Hemman's indirect use of the swan (which I discussed in an earlier post) with Corinne's "swan-song" ”Through his sobs, he heard the swan-song with which the woman he had so badly wronged still appealed to the depth of his heart” (de Stael 400).
I have a sense the pain for the Rossetti character is more of an internalized pain, which can relate to Corinne directly. In her “Last Song” she describes “an inner music” which “prepares us for the arrival of the angel of death.” Corinne speaks of darkness and “eternal shadows” that contrast with “light of day” or transcendence she sees in Italy, although it is quite ironic to mention when she is on stage she is “In a very dark corner” so that she wouldn’t be seen by Oswald (Stael 400-401).
There is a binary of light and dark at work in Rossetti’s poem collection and Corinne’s “Last Song.” The “darkness” of the sky is described as beautiful, for “Thousands of stars adorn it” (Stael 400) while Rossetti’s “single star” might indicate the difference of audience. The death of the Rossetti character seems personal and quiet versus the “huge crowd” that formed to hear Corinne’s final song. The “angel of death” Corinne speaks of isn’t “frightening” but “white, though he goes surrounded by darkness” (402).
Other areas. The swan-song returns--maybe I could look at Hemman's indirect use of the swan (which I discussed in an earlier post) with Corinne's "swan-song" ”Through his sobs, he heard the swan-song with which the woman he had so badly wronged still appealed to the depth of his heart” (de Stael 400).